9/1/19   126         22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - C             Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29      Ps 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11        Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a           Matt 11:29ab     Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

Humility* 17 My son, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. 18 Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find mercy in the sight of God.† f 20 For great is the power of the Lord; by the humble he is glorified. 21 What is too sublime for you, do not seek; do not reach into things that are hidden from young 22 What is committed to you, pay heed to; what is hidden is not your concern. 23 In matters that are beyond you do not meddle, when you have been shown more than you can understand. 24 Indeed, many are the conceits of human beings; evil imaginations lead them astray. Docility* 25 Without the pupil of the eye, light is missing; without knowledge, wisdom is missing. 26 A stubborn heart will fare badly in the end; those who love danger will perish in it. 27 A stubborn heart will have many a hurt; adding sin to sin is madness. 28 When the proud are afflicted, there is no cure; for they are offshoots of an evil plant.29 The mind of the wise appreciates proverbs, and the ear that listens to wisdom rejoices.

Psalm 68  To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. A Song. 1 Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;    let those who hate him flee before him.  2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;    as wax melts before the fire,    let the wicked perish before God.  3 But let the righteous be joyful;    let them exult before God;    let them be jubilant with joy.   4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;    lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds*— his name is the Lord—    be exultant before him.   5 Father of orphans and protector of widows    is God in his holy habitation.  6 God gives the desolate a home to live in;    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,    but the rebellious live in a parched land.   7 O God, when you went out before your people,    when you marched through the wilderness,           Selah  8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain    at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.  9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;    you restored your heritage when it languished;  10 your flock found a dwelling in it;    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.   11 The Lord gives the command;    great is the company of those* who bore the tidings:  12   ‘The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!’ The women at home divide the spoil,  13   though they stay among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver,    its pinions with green gold.  14 When the Almighty* scattered kings there,    snow fell on Zalmon.   15 O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;    O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!  16 Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain,    at the mount that God desired for his abode,    where the Lord will reside for ever?   17 With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,    thousands upon thousands,    the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.*  18 You ascended the high mount,    leading captives in your train    and receiving gifts from people, even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there.  19 Blessed be the Lord,    who daily bears us up;    God is our salvation.           Selah  20 Our God is a God of salvation,    and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.   21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,    the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.  22 The Lord said,    ‘I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,  23 so that you may bathe* your feet in blood,    so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.’   24 Your solemn processions are seen,* O God,    the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—  25 the singers in front, the musicians last,    between them girls playing tambourines:  26 ‘Bless God in the great congregation,    the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!’  27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,    the princes of Judah in a body,    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.   28 Summon your might, O God;    show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.  29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem    kings bear gifts to you.  30 Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,    the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample* under foot those who lust after tribute;    scatter the peoples who delight in war.*  31 Let bronze be brought from Egypt;    let Ethiopia* hasten to stretch out its hands to God.   32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;    sing praises to the Lord,           Selah  33 O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;    listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.  34 Ascribe power to God,    whose majesty is over Israel;    and whose power is in the skies.  35 Awesome is God in his* sanctuary,    the God of Israel;    he gives power and strength to his people.

Luke.14 [1]  One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.  [2] And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.  [3] And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?"  [4] But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go.  [5] And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a sabbath day?"  [6] And they could not reply to this.  [7]  Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,  [8] "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him;  [9] and he who invited you both will come and say to you, `Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.  [10] But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, `Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.  [11] For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  [12]  He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid.  

[13] But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,  [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  [15]  When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  [16] But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many;  [17] and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, `Come; for all is now ready.'  [18] But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.'  [19] And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.'  [20] And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  [21] So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, `Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.'  [22] And the servant said, `Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'  [23] And the master said to the servant, `Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.  [24] For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"  

LUKE 14:  [25]  Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them,  [26] "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Εἴ τις ἔρχεται πρός με καὶ οὐ μισεῖ τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὴν μητέρα καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ τέκνα καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τὰς ἀδελφάς, ἔτι τε καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ δύναται εἶναί μου μαθητής.

* [14:25–33] This collection of sayings, most of which are unusual to Luke, focuses on the total dedication necessary for the disciple of Jesus. No attachment to family (Lk 14:26) or possessions (Lk 14:33) can stand in the way of the total commitment demanded of the disciple. Also, acceptance of the call to be a disciple demands readiness to accept persecution and suffering (Lk 14:27) and a realistic assessment of the hardships and costs (Lk 14:28–32). * [14:26] Hating his father…: cf. the similar saying in Mt 10:37. The disciple’s family must take second place to the absolute dedication involved in following Jesus (see also Lk 9:59–62).

[27] Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  [28] For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  [29] Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,  [30] saying, `This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'  [31] Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  [32] And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an ambassador and asks terms of peace.  

[33] So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.  [34]  "Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored?  [35] It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."